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Fish in
the
News.
Each
week the
Bailey
Brothers
start
the Pet
Fish
Talk
Show
with
some fun
and
interesting
stories
about
fish in
the
news.

At the
St.
Louis
Mills
Mall in
Hazelwood,
Missouri,

George
Schmidt
Builds a
5,000-sq.-foot
Aquarium.

Now
this is
amazing.
Longtime fish enthusiast George Schmidt of North County accomplished a dream of his when he recently
built a 5,000-square-foot aquarium at the St. Louis Mills Mall in Hazelwood, Missouri. The aquarium, which consists of 12 huge tanks and
several smaller ones, houses sparkling golden and red-bellied piranha as well as hundreds of other freshwater fish that
come from Southeast Asia, South and Central America and West Africa. "Piranha don't normally attack people in the wild,"
said Schmidt, 45, as he fed the piranha cut-up smelt. "I'm sure there are times of the year when South Americans don't
go in the water." Schmidt's dream to build a large aquarium went unrealized until he found a strong epoxy resin to seal
the tanks. "I made the display myself," he said, explaining that he used "thousands of concrete blocks, hundreds of wood
panels and hundreds of Plexiglas sheets." To make the exhibit more viewable, Schmidt positioned the tanks low to the
floor for children and placed chairs across from the tanks for the adults. The 12 larger tanks hold 40,000 gallons of
water apiece. Each tank has a label, naming the types of fish inside. In addition to building the tanks, Schmidt
demonstrates his artistry by using rocks, bamboo, tree branches and low lighting to create an ecological-friendly
environment for the fish. Schmidt said he talked with St. Louis Mills management for six to eight months before
constructing the tanks, which weigh 16 tons apiece when filled. "The number one rule is no water on the floor," he said,
laughing. According to Schmidt, more than 40 species have spawned in the last six months. Spawning represents an
achievement, he said, "because exotic fish rarely spawn in captivity." Gary McIlvane, a member of the Missouri Aquarium
Society, called the display fantastic. "A lot of local stores show fish they really shouldn't," McIlvane said. "The only
way they (the fish) are happy is in a big tank. George (provides) a much more natural environment than your average
hobbyist. He is considered an expert on exotic fish in the St. Louis area." Doug Volling of Lake St. Louis recently
visited the exhibit. "This is the best freshwater aquarium I've ever seen," Volling said. "I have 200-gallon tanks, and
these make mine look tiny. Most hobbyists dream of having something like this." Schmidt has been interested in fish
since he received his first goldfish as a child. "I never grew out of it," he said. "I've been keeping fish for 45
years. It consumes all my time." Schmidt seems pleased with the response he receives from visitors. "I try to gauge if
people just want to look around or talk fish talk," Schmidt said. "The more you sit and look at (the fish), the more
interesting (they) get. "I've had people (dragged) in by spouses, and they leave loving it. They had no idea fish could
be this interesting." Admission to the exhibit is $2 for adults and free for children 3 and younger. Click
here
to read
more.
Extra special big thanks to Jourdan
from Connecticut
for
emailing us the link to this wonderful story.

Museum
of New
Zealand
Te Papa
Tongarewa

Colossal
Squid's
True
Size is
Revealed.

The exact size of a frozen colossal squid that was thawed this week has been revealed by New Zealand
officials. The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa
Tongarewa says the squid shrank drastically due to water and temperature changes since it was caught accidentally by
fisherman in 2007. After waiting for the tentacles to defrost so the squid could be fully extended, the researchers
measured its weight at nearly 495 kilograms and its length at over 4 metres. The squid's heft and large beak "confirm
that it was almost certainly longer and is still the largest invertebrate specimen in the world," says Te Papa
spokesperson Jane Keig. She adds that it also has the largest eye of any animal at about nearly 27 centimetres in
diameter. Click
here
to read
more.

The
Lower
Congo
River in
Africa

The
Freaky
Fish of
the
Congo

The Congo River is a place of superlatives; it is the world’s second largest river basin, draining an
area the size of Europe; so immense that its source waters in the highlands of east Africa take more than six months to
exit into the Atlantic Ocean, some 2,900 miles (4,670 km) to the west. The river and its tributaries represent over
9,000 miles (14,500 km) of navigable passage across central Africa, and provide food and livelihoods for the 30 million
people who live in this vast region. This massive river also forms one of the largest biogeographical barriers in
Africa. For example, our closest relatives, the
chimps (Pan troglodytes) and the bonobos (Pan paniscus) are separated by the Congo River; chimps are found only to the
north and bonobos only to the south. Many other animals show a similar pattern of distribution; the Congo River has
clearly played an important role in sorting African biogeography. Nevertheless, we know surprisingly little about its
history. But we do know that the river has not always looked the way it does today. Geologists estimate that perhaps as
recently as half a million years ago, the Congo was a large lake or series of lakes with no outflow to the Atlantic
Ocean. At some point the Congo breached a high plateau in the region of present day Malebo Pool — a peculiar place where
the river expands into an enormous 14-mile-wide (22.5 km-wide) pool. In Conrad’s day this strange place was known as
Stanley Pool, after the explorer and emissary of the now infamous Belgian King Leopold II. Most of the great inland lake
was drained and a "new" river cascaded down through the gorges of the Crystal Mountain region, dropping about 920 feet
(280 m) over 220 miles (350 km) to reach the Atlantic. Today, some of the most spectacular rapids on Earth and a rich
endemic fish fauna are found in the river as it flows between Pool Malebo and the Atlantic. These fishes are termed
lower Congo "endemics" because they occur only in this short stretch of the river. It is this region, called the lower
Congo River rapids, with its spectacular array of rapids, pools and runs, that is our study area. Click
here
to read
more.

University
of
Vienna,
Austria

Size
of
Swimbladders
Affects
Hearing
in
Catfishes.

Otophysine fish possess Weberian ossicles, which connect the swimbladder to the inner ear and improve
hearing ability. There is a high diversity in the morphology of the swimbladder and Weberian apparatus in catfishes,
which might affect hearing. We have examined these structures in representatives of six families with large, single
bladders (Ariidae, Auchenipteridae, Heptapteridae, Malapteruridae, Mochokidae, Pseudopimelodidae) and five subfamilies
from two families (Callichthyidae, Loricariidae) having small, paired, encapsulated bladders. We tested their hearing
abilities utilizing the non-invasive auditory evoked potential recording technique. Species with single,
non-encapsulated, free airbladders possess one, three or four ossicles, whereas species with encapsulated bladders
possess one or two. The relative sizes of the bladders and ossicles were significantly smaller in the latter group. ...
These results indicate that larger bladders and ossicles as well as higher ossicle numbers improve hearing ability at
higher frequencies in catfishes. We furthermore assume that the tiny bladders have minimized their hydrostatic function
but were not completely lost because of their auditory function. Click
here
to read
more.
Special thanks to Robert in New Jersey for the link to this story.

University
of
Konstanz,
Germany

Body
Shape
Variation
in Red
Devil
Cichlids

Cichlid fishes are known for their adaptive radiations with prolific speciation, but also for their
substantial intraspecific polymorphism and phenotypic plasticity. The Amphilophus citrinellus species complex from lakes
of Nicaragua has been studied extensively as an example of trophic and colour polymorphism and possible sympatric
speciation. We use the methods of geometric morphometrics to investigate variation in body shape in this species
complex. There is significant shape variation between the widespread A. citrinellus and the more locally distributed
A. labiatus and A. zaliosus, which shows patterns that are consistent with the taxonomic descriptions of those taxa.
Contrary to the expectations from models of adaptive character divergence, the shape differences between species in
analyses restricted to populations occurring syntopically are smaller than the corresponding differences computed from
samples pooled over all locations. Within A. citrinellus, there is considerable variation among lakes as well as between
the alternative colour and trophic morphs, suggesting local differentiation based on genetic and ecophenotypic
mechanisms. Click
here
to read
more.
Special thanks to Robert in New Jersey for the link to this story.

University
of
California
at
Riverside

Scientists
Learning
from
Marine
Animals.

Marine
snails,
sea
urchins,
and
other
animals
from the
sea are
teaching
researchers
in UC
Riverside's
Department
of
Chemical
and
Environmental
Engineering
how to
make the
world a
better
place.
Consider,
for
example,
the
possibilities
of
designing
a
lightweight
armor
that
would
protect
U.S.
soldiers
in Iraq
from
Improvised
Explosive
Devices.
Or, what
flexible
ceramics
might
offer
industry.
Or, how
everyone
could
benefit
from new
ways of
producing
and
storing
energy.
Nature
holds
these
secrets
and the
answers
to the
questions
that
Prof.
David
Kisailus's
research
group is
learning
how to
ask. "My
hope,"
Kisailus
said,
"is that
we can
truly
learn
from
these
organisms
how to
design,
optimize,
and
synthesize
engineering
materials
that
display
properties
that we
as
engineers
can only
dream
of."
Click here
to read
more.

Smithsonian
Institution
in
Washington
DC,

Global
Reference
Library
of
Marine
Life
DNA.

... imagine scanning a DNA barcode on the piece of fish you just bought for dinner to instantly verify
the species, where it came from, its nutritional value, and other valuable information. NOAA researchers are helping to
make this scenario a reality. "We need to accurately identify species for a number of reasons, from documenting the
biodiversity of poorly sampled species and geographic areas to understanding populations and managing global fisheries
in a sustainable way,” said Bruce Collette, a zoologist at NOAA’s National Systematics Laboratory (NSL) located in the
Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC. "DNA barcoding is another tool in the toolbox of taxonomists and researchers
who study, document, and organize knowledge about all life forms on earth.” Click
here
to read
more.
Special thanks to Robert in New Jersey for the link to this story.

Callers during this Show

Jourdan from Connecticut
calls and talks about
The Aquarium Wiki. Click
here to visit that site, and click
here to visit the forum. Jourdan also talked about
putting your video on his web site.

Bonnie from Iowa called and talked
about the new pond she is digging in her backyard. It will
be 4'x8' and screened in, so she can site by and not be
bothered by insects. Sounds very good.

Evan from Colorado calls
and we talk about the photos of Hawaii that he took during
his recent trip. Click here to
see some of those photos.

Later
Evan from
Colorado
sent us
an Email.

hi
guys,
Good
call
today.
As I
said
I
have
some
flower
pictures
that
I
would
like
to
share
with
you.
I am
not
adding
any
special
affects
to
them
so
they
are
nicer
for
you
to
put
on
the
website.
These
are
the
best 5
that
I
have.
Evan

Thanks again, Evan, for these beautiful
pictures of flowers taken recently in Hawaii during your
vacation them.

The Bailey Brothers
encourage YOU to call Pet Fish Talk
during the show and talk about your pet fish.

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